West Indies women’s team gain could be Barbados’ track and field loss as far as repeat javelin medallist Hayley Matthews is concerned.
The Harrison College student returned from the recent tour of Australia where her breakout performances have signalled that the all-rounder could be ready for the big league. However, Matthews has indicated that she will have to give some thought to any future in track and field.
“As far as track and field is concerned I have to give that some thought as I am not too sure where I want to go in track and field, but I want to go as far as possible in cricket,” said Matthews.
The daughter of veteran cricketer Michael Matthews has certainly created some positives in her budding cricketing career having captained Harrison College’s under 13 cricket team in the schools’ competition.
Matthews also turned out for Fuzion Boutique Passage Road team during their under-13 championship reign.
While Matthews was proud of her performance in Australia, she was disappointed that the West Indies went down 4-0 in the series where the conditions were cold and the pitches were good for batting.
“It is always good to contribute to the team but unfortunately we could not get the win but I expected that we will take this time off to improve in the next few months off and come back harder in the next series.
“You know I always thought that it was coming . . . and I worked real hard in training. I had expected to strike that kind of form for a while. I am still focused on being an all-rounder it just so happen that I am doing better in the batting department,” stated Matthews.
However, he was very cautious about reading too much into her current form. “Of course, a few good scores does not mean that the work is over. I now have to work to continue to make a contribution to the team with both bat and ball.”
Coach Sherwin Campbell was very upbeat over Matthews’ performance and the sparks from other players on what he considered a tough assignment.
“We knew before we got there that Australia would be a tough challenge, they have been World Cup champions for the past five years and they have consistently done well against England.
“We still competed at certain stages throughout the series and some of the outstanding performances from the places like Hayley Matthews have shown that they can compete at this level. She has shown the potential to perform at this level and fellow Bajan Shamilia Connell has shown that she could become one of the fastest bowlers on the world stage,” said the former Windies opener.
